TASTE OF BOSTON — REVIEW

Tampa, Florida

It was early on a Saturday afternoon and I hadn’t eaten yet.

The first time I stumbled across Ballast Point Park in South Tampa, I was looking for a new outdoor office space to add to my rotation.

I was headed toward the jetty when I saw a bunch of people eating at this no-frills seafood joint on the water called ‘Taste of Boston’!

The fact that there wasn’t a single empty table inside or outside piqued my interest, but I had some writing to do so I just took note of it at the time.

Now that it was Saturday and I was hungry with nothing else to do, I thought that I would go back and see what all the hype was about.

Taste of Boston is a seafood restaurant on the water… to me, that location and choice of cuisine alone means that the restaurant absolutely has to serve extra-fresh seafood to be successful.

I wanted to test my theory by ordering the fried calamari because un-fresh calamari is painfully easy to spot— it’s like eating a rubber band!

That’s why I felt like the calamari basket would be the perfect way to gauge the freshness of the seafood served here.

The food came out quickly with an array of chilled condiments— ketchup, cocktail sauce, and tartar sauce. You can also ask for hot sauce or malt vinegar if you want.

The fries were extra crispy. The coleslaw was fresh, sweet, and tangy.

And the calamari wasn’t rubbery at all!

Thanks for lunch, Taste of Boston!